Books help alot with "Your Game" in general such as teaching you tactics, strategies, openings, endings, what should always be on your mind, etc. But they are not a requirement to become a good chess player. You could just watch others play. That helps alot with understanding the game (More interactive than reading a book) . Or you could just look up how to play chess on Youtube or something and watch a 4 part video. Overall, anything that has at least some aspect of chess can help you become a good chess player and improve your game. Everything counts. Hope it answers your question. Have a Good Day
Can you figure chess out or must you read boring books?
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If you consider the books boring then you are likely not sufficiently interested in the game to become accomplished on your own. Of course the game may be learned through trial and error but improvement will likely be more rapid if you study some of what is already known. If you like math you could probably invent calculus but you will learn how to do it faster from a textbook.
MojoJedi wrote:
Wow, so much resistance.
Watt?
MojoJedi wrote:
Wow, so much resistance.
It is another mark of maturity to be able to sustain a metaphor. Perhaps I misjudged you. 
(Frequent posts often also are a consequence of idleness, which can result from prosperity.)
atrusso-phd wrote:
If you consider the books boring then you are likely not sufficiently interested in the game to become accomplished on your own. Of course the game may be learned through trial and error but improvement will likely be more rapid if you study some of what is already known. If you like math you could probably invent calculus but you will learn how to do it faster from a textbook.
BattleOfSchruteFarms wrote:
atrusso-phd wrote:
If you consider the books boring then you are likely not sufficiently interested in the game to become accomplished on your own. Of course the game may be learned through trial and error but improvement will likely be more rapid if you study some of what is already known. If you like math you could probably invent calculus but you will learn how to do it faster from a textbook.
Ahh, the sign of a truly great thread: bigpoison and grobe doin' their thang. I am a little confused, though: what does a drilling manual have to do with chess improvement?
@ziryab ... An extended metaphor is also called a conceit. But not the sort of conceit you know so well.
MojoJedi wrote:
@ziryab ... An extended metaphor is also called a conceit. But not the sort of conceit you know so well.
Did you Google that? The way the metaphor was extended in this thread, or in conversations, is not quite what the poets and critics call a conceit. Nice try, though.
As for my arrogance...
You could Google that, too, if you like. It's not news. Even so, in my arrogance, I lack the hubris of those who would solve chess without books. Books are my crutch, and I lean on them to gain knowledge about chess as about everything else in life (even sex and fly fishing).
MojoJedi
Yes, one can get very good without physical books, as long as one embraces learning. Online tactical puzzles, reviewing masters games, etc.
It is the 21st Century...there are a myriad of learning technologies that are much more efficient than books to increase our pattern recognition, whether it be chess or any other field of study.
Chesstempo is a great start. 30 minutes a day should get anyone to 1400 in a short amount of time.
For someone who claims to be well-read, you're too long-winded and too full of rhetorical hyperbole.
Jimmy ... spot on ... the idea is improving pattern recognition.
Hey, MojoJ,
Did you block some members? This thread seem to be missing some posts that were here yesterday.
Learning stimulates; entertainment dulls the senses. I really like this statement. Thanks Ziryab.
I don't think blocking by a member retroactively removes content.
Muzzling or account closure by chess.com does though.
TheGrobe wrote:
I don't think blocking by a member retroactively removes content.
Muzzling or account closure by chess.com does though.
What is "muzzling" ? You ban the user from forums but not from play or what ?
Yeah, basically.
Yes, Mojo, and we can see a lot MORE patterns in a short amount of time using computers. The major problems with books is that it takes longer to see a larger variety of patterns.
It can be argued that ALL learning is pattern recognition.
Wow, so much resistance.